Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth says he understands the interest being shown by other clubs in centre-back Aaron Pierre.

Reports this week suggested that Pierre had been the subject of a bid in the region of £100,000 from League One side Fleetwood Town.

Wycombe claim that there has been no formal offer made for the 22-year-old, but Ainsworth did admit that multiple teams have been watching him closely.

“He is one of our players who is destined for bigger things without a doubt. There are all sorts of clubs watching him at the moment and rightly so,” Ainsworth explained.

“There is always going to be suggestions and rumours surrounding my players. You have Matt Ingram, Anthony Stewart and Luke O’Nien who are being linked all the time.

“It flatters me but until something absolutely solid comes in we just treat these things as rumours, and Aaron is a Wycombe Wanderers player.”

Pierre’s stock is surely at an all-time high after he put in a superb performance during Wycombe’s FA Cup defeat against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

He helped shackle the Premier League side for 75 minutes, as he won a number of key headers and dominated Villa forward Rudi Gestede throughout the match.

The highlight of his performance came shortly before Villa took the lead, as he threw himself in front of Scott Sinclair’s close-range effort to deny a certain goal.

Such qualities are highly sought after in the modern game, and Ainsworth is aware he faces a tough task holding onto the man he signed from Brentford in 2014.

Ainsworth said: “He has pace to burn, is left-footed, which is a massive advantage, he rarely loses a header and is a threat in the opposition box.

“He is still learning, but my biggest challenge is maybe holding onto players like Aaron Pierre during the transfer window.”

Pierre’s rise is indicative of the faith shown in young players by Ainsworth, and it is telling that a player who failed to make an appearance for Brentford is now attracting such praise under his tutelage.

The willingness to show faith in players who have perhaps been dismissed by others is, of course, informed by a limited budget, and Ainsworth claimed the club take varying approaches when scouting players.

“There are different ways of scouting and different methods. There are players on that pitch tonight on not very much money at all believe me. They have slipped right through the net and had to fight their way back up,” he said.